Mother to Mother
by KatLeePT
Summary: Watching Regina reminisce sets Robin on a special mission. Outlaw Queen. Mild Spoilers!


Intently, he watches the beautiful woman in front of him. Somehow, she manages to fascinate him with her every elegant move as she stands before her fireplace or, at least, what passes for a fireplace in this modern world into which she's brought them. Not even Marian had such a hold on him, but Robin is content to sit back against her couch and simply watch her as she muses to herself.

His keen eyes watch the delicate way her fingers absent mindedly stroke the statue on her mantel. He wonders if it is meant to be of a particular horse, but he knows she's thinking of one noble animal in particular regardless. His eyes soften with his ache for her as he witnesses the unspoken torment in her lovely, dark eyes. She's known such pain in her life, and clearly, this statue reminds her of one of them.

She's forgotten he's even in the room as the ceramic horse takes her back to another time and place. She told her sister, not too long ago, that she never had much use for pets, but that was one of her many, many lies that she told both others and herself. She used to love horses when she was younger. They were magnificent creatures, and she never felt more free, not even practicing magic, than when she was riding one, especially running at full gallop.

She remembers those times with a smile. She had always liked defying her mother, despite Cora's constant threat of using magic to control her, but spending time with the horses, and with the stable boy even before she'd realized that her initial crush on him was much more than just a young girl's wistful thoughts, had always been the funnest way. Riding the animals made her feel powerful and regal without the restrictions of real royals. She could never hope to be as graceful as the horses, but controlling them also gave her the smallest hint that she might actually one day be able to control her own destiny.

Her mother had, of course, hated them. They were a means to an end only for her, and she despised Regina's unladylike behavior with them. Of course, Cora had despised anything good, including Regina herself. She pauses at that thought but then accepts that she was good then, even if she's not now and will never be again. She knows Henry believes in her, her child believes she can be good, but she remains quite uncertain she'll ever be able to be pure enough again to truly be considered good.

She shuts her eyes tightly against the pain in her heart as the moments she had been reliving again, the times she had ridden her favorite stallion and it had seemed to her that there was only herself and her horse in all the world until she remembered Daniel and then it was just the three of them, vanish to be replaced by a darker time, a time and a moment she wishes with all her blackened heart she could forget. She hears her beloved horse's whinnies of pain and terror, but it's not with her ears that she hears them. She hears his voice crying in her mind as she takes his heart and crushes it.

Regina turns her face away in shame, silent tears tracking down her face. She tried to save her father by killing her best friend, her only friend beside him. It hadn't worked, and she had lost both them. She had killed both herself, and for what? For a revenge that is never going to happen. Her touch and eyes turn hard again with anger, but then, there's a gentling hand on her shoulder.

She looks up, her eyes wide and surprised. Robin smiles gently down into her upturned face, steps closer, and wraps his arms around her lithe frame. She doesn't struggle, but she does remain stoic in his arms. She's not ready to let him or any one know how greatly she hurts, but his arms around her feel good, comforting, and far, far warmer than the fire. She closes her eyes again as he hugs her and smiles, for a moment forgetting the pains that always haunt her heart.

Robin feels the change as she relaxes in his arms. At one time, he would have liked nothing better than to take this beautiful, graceful, and amazing Queen right here in front of her fire, even if it meant lowering her dignity to be on the floor, but the hardships of their lives have changed so much about the way they might have been, had they met before he had lost Marian and she had lost Daniel. Now, there is something much more important to which the thief has set his mind. He lifts her head gently with a crooked finger and drinks of her lips for just a moment before telling her, his eyes shining, "There is something I would like to show you, milady." _Or, rather,_ he thinks, _some one_.

"Lead the way, thief." The word is no longer an insult or a challenge, and he adores the way her dark eyes sparkle as she speaks to him. She's teasing him, and ordinarily, he might tease back, but his thoughts are on a far more serious matter. A mere twenty minutes later, and he's watching as his plan unfolds before him.

Regina stands still before him, and though he can not see the expression on her face, he can well imagine it. It's been a long time since she was in a stable, a longer time still, he imagines, since last she was so close to such a young and innocent life. He knows she had Henry as a baby, but there's nothing quite like an animal mother trusting you to come close to her newborn child. Hesitantly, Regina reaches a gloved hand forward, but then stops.

"It's okay, Regina," he assures her from the gate. "Go ahead. She'll hardly bite you, milady."

"I'm not concerned with her teeth." There's anger in her voice now, despite the awe he heard in it when she first spotted the baby, but he's not bothered. He understands instantly that that anger, though seemingly directed to him, has nothing to do with him and everything to do with her fury at herself and her own past deeds.

Regina eyes the mother before her. No self respecting mother would allow an evil thing to come close to her child, and animals can tell what's truly in a person's heart. She learned that lesson long ago when all the horses in the stables whickered in warning just before her mother would appear and then went deathly quiet as she entered. They were afraid of her, and with just reason. They never once dared to attack her mother, but then, Cora had never tried to get close to any of them, let alone their offspring. They were horrible, hideous, and smelly animals to her, but to Regina, they were always magnificent, noble, and gentle.

She hasn't seen such a precious thing since her own son. She never takes Henry for granted any more, and she remembers well how she felt holding him when he was a baby. The foal can not compare to her son, but still, it's so innocent, sweet, and amazingly beautiful. How can she, a being so full of evil, hope to touch something so pure? But she had held Henry, and if she doesn't at least attempt to pet the foal, Robin will never let her live it down. After all, he obviously must think this is very important to her to have interrupted their date to bring her way out here.

"How old is he?"

"He was born just this morning."

"Wow." She doesn't realize that she's released the whisper allowed, or that Robin is grinning like a fool behind her.

Carefully, she edges further into the stall, her fingers reaching ever closer. The mother's eyes lock onto her face, but she doesn't move.

"You might want to - " Robin starts to say and pauses as Regina removes her gloves and lets them fall, quietly, to the hay-strewn floor. " - take your gloves off."

Regina wants to pet the baby, though she won't admit it aloud, but she knows who she must win over first. She lifts her head and meets the mother's gaze. Then she raises her hands to her and holds herself still before her, submitting herself to the animal's will. She remains still and quiet as the horse takes in her scent and her eyes judge her. "I won't hurt him," she promises, mother to mother, in a hushed whisper that makes Robin's smile grow even bigger.

The mare tosses her mane, but when Regina slips closer, she stills herself. Regina's touch is gentle as she lays a single hand on the horse's neck. They look at each other, horse to woman, animal to Queen, mother to mother, and then finally, Regina strokes the mare's neck. She doesn't move at first, but as Regina continues to stroke her, she finally releases her breath in a gentle huff.

Smiling, Regina drops to her knees in the hay. It's a very undignified position, one she hasn't indulged in years, but right now, for the first time in a long time, she's not studying appearances. She can trust these animals, and she can trust the man behind her, the man who brought her here, the thief to whom she gave her heart, the friend who's giving her this moment she didn't even realize until now she so sorely wanted. Keeping one hand and eye on the mare, Regina reaches out to the baby. His flesh and fine hair are softer than the finest of velvets.

She strokes the animals slowly until she finally dares lift her hand from the mare and cup the baby's face in both of her hands. She stares into his tiny face and his eyes that, even at that age, seem so very deep to her. There are tears in her own eyes. The baby is far too young to know what is happening or to understand the meaning of those unshed tears, but both the mother watching over the two and the man watching from behind understand well.

Robin lets Regina have her moment with the foal. She spends a long while simply stroking and holding him until his voice gently pierces the quietness of the stable, "The couple who has his mother can't afford to keep both horses."

Regina pauses a moment before clearing her own throat and saying, "Of course, they can."

Robin grins again. He knows what that means. "They're far too old and too busy to be able to give them the attention they require."

"I may know some one who can help." And as she lingers there in the stall, and he feasts his eyes on the most beautiful thing he's seen yet, her holding that sweet, innocent baby, they both know exactly of whom she speaks. Regina wonders idly if they will allow her help, but then tells herself that of course they will for she is, after all, still the Queen. Robin has no such doubts. He knows the couple well and will make certain they come to see the lady within the Queen he knows and loves so well.

The End


End file.
